Unless you've already forked out for a network adapter we say think carefully. For all it's visual grandeur and novel open-ended warfare you too often make excuses for Battlefront's mistakes. When the novelty wears off, you'll find a simple shoot-'em-up where 80% of the fun is the Star Wars setting.īut then the game is so full of 'Ooooh!' moments that we're torn between loving and loathing it, even though we know that if wasn't plastered with the Star Wars license it'd be an average squad-based shooter, greatly inferior to the likes of Freedom Fighters. Unfortunately, the AI opponents are too floundering and dimwitted to present any real challenge or sense of involvement. Well, there's a great big single-player mode in there too - which basically takes you through time from the Clone Wars of Episode 1 to 3 through to classic 'Wars locations of the holy trilogy with game AI playing the parts of everyone else. Any third-person shooter that commits the cardinal sin of having a god-awful camera should be gagged, bound and thrashed - we don't have time for finicky, unpredictable problems that could have easily been remedied.īut what if you're not online, as most people aren't. In most starships, you'll be hard-pressed to see anything you're attacking and it focuses so closely on the characters that the action feels cramped and rigid. The promised ability to switch perspectives has also been a bit of a letdown it's all third-person, save for a rather ineffective over-the-shoulder view we rarely found ourselves using. It's like he's a piece of cardboard fluttering in the wind rather than an actual man, and the targeting system falters as a result of this it's too nimble for it's own good, often flailing and stalling at the most inopportune moment. Controlling your character feels awkward. Pandemic have achieved something spectacular here, even though it's terminally flawed. And when you consider that all of this is being played online with actual people (provided you're online of course) you can't help but be impressed. If you're not zipping under an AT-AT's legs in a Snowspeeder, you're barrelling your X-Wing through a tight canyon in pursuit of a fleeing TIE Fighter. Most of your enjoyment will come from the starfighters. Most of the Trade Federation tanks are slow to the point of being completely pointless and the same goes for the AT-AT - it might sound like the best thing ever, but an awkward camera angle spoils things somewhat, along with the obvious lack of pace. Inevitably some vehicles are just plain rubbish, however. It's a dream come true for anyone who grew up with the films. Soaring across the Dune Sea in an X-Wing while a battle rages below is utterly magnificent, and stomping around in an AT-ST is empowering like nothing else. There are lots of things to drive, fly and shoot from, and most of them are a joy to pilot.

Star wars battlefront part 1